South Korea to host Alaska governor, energy team amid talk of gas pipeline
Governor Mike Dunleavy's delegation will include officials from the Glanfarne Group that is a partner in the project to transport gas from Alaska's remote north via a $44 billion pipeline and the state gas agency, the main U.S. business lobby in Seoul said.
"Discussions over expanding energy cooperation between the two countries are scheduled," the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) said in a statement.
The officials are due to meet senior South Korean officials and leaders of major businesses for discussions on key industrial sectors including energy, infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing, it said.
Trump has sought to shore up the gas project and called for the participation of South Korea, Japan and Taiwan that are seen as potential buyers of the gas that would be transported through the 1,300-km (800 mile) pipeline.
South Korea has already said it would be actively involved in discussions over the project.
South Korea, a major exporter of steel, autos and electric vehicle batteries to the United States, has been bracing for Trump's plan to impose tough tariffs on countries that have trade surpluses in bilateral U.S. trade.
Trump, who has directed his team to prepare reciprocal tariff plans by early April, has said South Korea's average tariff was four times higher than the rate imposed by the United States.
Seoul has disputed Trump's assertion. South Korea's trade ministry said the country's effective tariff rate on U.S. imports was 0.79% as nearly all import duty was eliminated under the free trade agreement signed first in 2007.
Dunleavy's delegation was expected to be in South Korea through Wednesday.
Meetings with South Korea's acting president and industry minister as well as with the heads of the state gas corporation, the SK and Hanwha conglomerates and POSCO International were planned, AMCHAM said.
The Alaska governor's office declined to comment on his schedule.
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Daily Mail
6 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trump's mystery woman plunged into Putin leak scandal as secret dossier is found in Alaska hotel
Donald Trump 's mystery woman has been plunged into scandal after a secret dossier detailing his summit with Vladimir Putin was found by guests at an Alaskan hotel. Eight pages of official government documents were left behind on printers at the four-star Hotel Captain Cook on Friday, NPR reports. The hotel is located 20 minutes from the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. The documents, which were produced by the Office of the Chief of Protocol, revealed the precise locations and times of the meetings between US and Russian officials. The president's Chief of Protocol, former Fox News analyst Monica Crowley, was responsible for creating the detailed program for Putin's visit, including arranging the vital meeting between the two countries to discuss a potential ceasefire in Ukraine. Details of the schedule contained in the papers included phone numbers of three US government employees and pronunciation guides for the names of Russian attendees - including 'Mr. President POO-tihn'. Trump also intended to offer Putin a ceremonial gift during Friday's summit, the documents showed, though it is unclear if he did. In the aftermath of the summit, Trump has urged Ukraine to make a deal with Russia to end the war and allegedly told Volodymyr Zelensky that Putin offered to freeze most front lines if Kyiv 's forces ceded all of Donetsk. Zelensky reportedly rejected the demand. Trump has also indicated that he agrees with Putin that a peace deal should be sought without the prior ceasefire that Ukraine and its European allies, until now with US support, have demanded. The documents, which were produced by the Office of the Chief of Protocol, revealed the precise locations and times of the meetings between US and Russian officials Trump met with Putin in Anchorage Friday to discuss a peace proposal, though little details were disclosed about the pair's meeting. But papers found at the Hotel Captain Cook around 9am Friday revealed exactly what rooms the Russian and US leaders convened in at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Page one of the pack showed that Trump and Putin met near the 'American Bald Eagle Desk Statue' at the base, NPR reports. Three pages in the document included names of US and Kremlin officials, including phonetic pronunciation for all the Russians expected to attend the summit. The sixth and seventh pages in the document stated that a luncheon would be held in 'honor of his excellency Vladimir Putin'. It featured the expected menu of green salad with a champagne vinaigrette dressing for the starter and a main of filet mignon or halibut, with potatoes and asparagus on the side. Guests would be served creme brûlée for dessert. The included seating chart placed Trump across from Putin. Trump would also be sat with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff. Putin was meant to be sat with Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov and his Foreign Policy advisor Yuri Ushakov. But it is understood that the luncheon was cancelled. Three pages in the document included names of US and Kremlin officials, including phonetic pronunciation for all the Russians expected to attend the summit It is unclear who left behind the documents, but political analysts warn the mishap demonstrates 'sloppiness and the incompetence of the administration'. 'You just don't leave things in printers. It's that simple,' UCLA law professor and national security expert Jon Michaels told the news outlet. Although the documents and summit itinerary were marked as being produced by Crowley's team, there has been no official information tying her specifically to the leak. Daily Mail has approached the White House for comment on the situation. Crowley took center stage as she charmed Vladimir Putin at the Alaska summit on Friday. She made the Russian leader beam as they shook hands shortly before he took off from Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage. She may not be as famous as Trump or have as much sway in decision-making as some of his cabinet members, but Crowley plays a vital role in all of the President's major US-hosted events. As Chief of Protocol, it's the former journalist's job to make sure that diplomatic proceedings run smoothly and every person is standing in their assigned spot. Crowley would have been in charge of coordinating with a foreign ambassador and the American Embassy overseas to make sure Putin's arrival was perfect, according to the State Department. It would have been her job to create a detailed program for Putin's visit, including arranging the vital meeting between the two countries to discuss a potential ceasefire in Ukraine. Crowley also accompanies the president on all his official visits, makes sure everything is paid for, and ensures things, such as flags, are in the right order. Although it is unclear what exactly Crowley planned for Putin while he visited The Last Frontier State, she was seen sending him off as he boarded his plane following the Friday summit. Trump's three-hour meeting with Putin was the first US-Russia summit since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 'It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up,' Trump said of summit. His various comments on the meeting will be welcomed in Moscow, which says it wants a full settlement - not a pause - but that this will be complex because positions are 'diametrically opposed'. Russia's forces have been gradually advancing for months. The war - the deadliest in Europe for 80 years - has killed or wounded well over a million people from both sides, including thousands of mostly Ukrainian civilians, according to analysts. Before the summit, Trump had said he would not be happy unless a ceasefire was agreed on. But afterwards he said that, after Monday's talks with Zelensky, 'if all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin'. Monday's talks will evoke memories of a meeting in the White House Oval Office in February, where Trump and Vice President JD Vance gave Zelensky a brutal public dressing-down. Zelensky said he was willing to meet Putin. But Putin signaled no movement in Russia's long-held positions on the war, and made no mention in public of meeting with the Ukrainian president. Yuri Ushakov told the Russian state news agency TASS a three-way summit had not been discussed. Both Russia and Ukraine carried out air attacks overnight, a daily occurrence in the three-and-a-half-year war. Russia launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile targeting Ukraine's territory, Ukraine's Air Force said on Saturday. It said its air defense units destroyed 61 of them. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said 139 clashes had taken place on the front line over the past day. Russia said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed 29 Ukrainian drones overnight. Trump told Fox that he would hold off on imposing tariffs on China for buying Russian oil after making progress with Putin. He did not mention India, another major buyer of Russian crude, which has been slapped with a total 50 percent tariff on US imports that includes a 25 percent penalty for the imports from Russia. 'Because of what happened today, I think I don't have to think about that now,' Trump said of Chinese tariffs. 'I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something, but we don't have to think about that right now.' Trump ended his remarks on Friday by telling Putin, 'I'd like to thank you very much, and we'll speak to you very soon and probably see you again very soon.' 'Next time in Moscow,' a smiling Putin responded in English. Trump said he might 'get a little heat on that one' but that he could 'possibly see it happening.'
Reuters
6 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump told Zelenskiy after summit that Putin wants more of Ukraine, source says
WASHINGTON/MOSCOW/KYIV, Aug 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday Ukraine should make a deal to end the war with Russia because "Russia is a very big power, and they're not", after hosting a summit where Vladimir Putin was reported to have demanded more Ukrainian land. In a subsequent briefing with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a source familiar with the discussion cited Trump as saying the Russian leader had offered to freeze most front lines if Kyiv's forces ceded all of Donetsk, the industrial region that is one of Moscow's main targets. Zelenskiy rejected the demand, the source said. Russia already controls a fifth of Ukraine, including about three-quarters of Donetsk province, which it first entered in 2014. Trump also said he had agreed with Putin that a peace deal should be sought without the prior ceasefire that Ukraine and its European allies, until now with U.S. support, have demanded. Zelenskiy said he would meet Trump in Washington on Monday, while Kyiv's European allies welcomed Trump's efforts but vowed to back Ukraine and tighten sanctions on Russia. The source said European leaders had also been invited to attend those talks. Trump's meeting with Putin in Alaska on Friday, the first U.S.-Russia summit since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, lasted just three hours. "It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up," Trump posted on Truth Social. His various comments on the meeting mostly aligned with the public positions of Moscow, which says it wants a full settlement - not a pause - but that this will be complex because positions are "diametrically opposed". Russia has been gradually advancing for months. The war - the deadliest in Europe for 80 years - has killed or wounded well over a million people from both sides, including thousands of mostly Ukrainian civilians, according to analysts. Before the summit, Trump had said he would not be happy unless a ceasefire was agreed on. But afterwards he said that, after Monday's talks with Zelenskiy, "if all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin". Those talks will evoke memories of a meeting in the White House Oval Office in February, where Trump and Vice President JD Vance gave Zelenskiy a brutal public dressing-down. Zelenskiy said he was willing to meet Putin. But Putin signalled no movement in Russia's long-held demands, which also include a veto on membership of the NATO alliance, and made no mention in public of meeting Zelenskiy. His aide Yuri Ushakov said a three-way summit had not been discussed. In an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Trump signalled that he and Putin had discussed land transfers and security guarantees for Ukraine, and had "largely agreed". "I think we're pretty close to a deal," he said, adding: "Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they'll say 'no'." Asked what he would advise Zelenskiy to do, Trump said: "Gotta make a deal." "Look, Russia is a very big power, and they're not," he added. Zelenskiy has consistently said he cannot concede territory without changes to Ukraine's constitution, and Kyiv sees Donetsk's "fortress cities" such as Sloviansk and Kramatorsk as a bulwark against Russian advances into even more regions. Zelenskiy has also insisted on security guarantees, to deter Russia from invading again in the future. He said he and Trump had discussed "positive signals from the American side" on taking part, and that Ukraine needed a lasting peace, not "just another pause" between Russian invasions. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the most interesting developments concerned security guarantees - inspired by NATO's Article 5. "The starting point of the proposal is the definition of a collective security clause that would allow Ukraine to benefit from the support of all its partners, including the USA, ready to take action in case it is attacked again," she said. Putin, who has hitherto opposed involving foreign ground forces, said he agreed with Trump that Ukraine's security must be "ensured". "I would like to hope that the understanding we have reached will allow us to get closer to that goal and open the way to peace in Ukraine," Putin told a briefing where neither leader took questions. "We expect that Kyiv and the European capitals ... will not attempt to disrupt the emerging progress..." For Putin, the very fact of sitting down with Trump represented a victory. He had been ostracised by Western leaders since the start of the war, and just a week earlier had faced a threat of new sanctions from Trump. Trump also spoke to European leaders after returning to Washington. Several stressed the need to keep pressure on Russia. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said an end to the war was closer than ever, thanks to Trump, but added: "... until (Putin) stops his barbaric assault, we will keep tightening the screws on his war machine with even more sanctions." A statement from European leaders said "Ukraine must have ironclad security guarantees" and that no limits should be placed on its armed forces or right to seek NATO membership - key Russian demands. Some European politicians and commentators were scathing. "Putin got his red carpet treatment with Trump, while Trump got nothing. As feared: no ceasefire, no peace," Wolfgang Ischinger, former German ambassador to Washington, posted on X. "No real progress – a clear 1-0 for Putin – no new sanctions. For the Ukrainians: nothing. For Europe: deeply disappointing." Both Russia and Ukraine carried out overnight air attacks, a daily occurrence, while fighting raged on the front. Trump told Fox he would postpone imposing tariffs on China for buying Russian oil, but that he might have to "think about it" in two or three weeks. He ended his remarks after the summit by telling Putin: "We'll speak to you very soon and probably see you again very soon." "Next time in Moscow," a smiling Putin responded in English. Trump said he might "get a little heat on that one" but that he could "possibly see it happening".
The Guardian
6 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Donald Trump reportedly delivered letter from first lady to Vladimir Putin
Donald Trump hand-delivered a personal letter from first lady Melania Trump to Russian leader Vladimir Putin raising the plight of Ukrainian and Russian children caught in the middle of the ongoing war between the two European countries, it was reported on Saturday. The contents of the letter were unknown – but two Trump administration officials told Reuters that it mentioned the abductions of children resulting from the war that broke out after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Putin was indicted by the international criminal court in 2023, and still faces arrest in 125 countries, for his alleged role in the war crime of abducting those children and transferring them from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. Slovenian-born Melania Trump did not attend the peace summit between Trump and Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday. But she has previously said that her ambition as US first lady was to be akin to Eleanor Roosevelt, who was known for her work advocating for children's rights and welfare during Franklin D Roosevelt's presidency. Ukraine has called the abductions of tens of thousands of its children taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of family or guardians a war crime that meets the United Nations treaty definition of genocide. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, conveyed his gratitude to the US first lady on his call with Trump on Saturday, Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said on Saturday. 'During the conversation, President Zelenskyy also conveyed his gratitude to first lady Melania Trump for her sincere attention and efforts to bring forcibly deported Ukrainian kids back,' Sybiha said on X. 'This is a true act of humanism.' Ahead of Friday's summit, the White House stated that Russia's abduction of more than 20,000 Ukrainian children 'remains a concern' for Trump seven months into his second presidency. Moscow has previously said it has been protecting vulnerable children from a war zone. The issue returned to the headlines earlier in August, when the non-governmental organization Save Ukraine accused Russia of 'state-sponsored child trafficking' after a group of administrators in Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine published an online catalogue of what they called Ukrainian orphans. Organization head Mykola Kuleba said the database from the Russia-installed administration's education ministry in the Luhansk region contains data on 294 Ukrainian children under the age of 17 who have been separated from their parents. Kuleba noted the website shows the names, photos, descriptions of personalities and hobbies of the children. 'Russia isn't even trying to hide it any more,' Kuleba said. 'It's openly trafficking Ukrainian children. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion 'The way they describe our children is no different from a slave catalogue. This is real child trafficking in the 21st century, which the world must stop.' After news of the first lady's letter was posted, the Bring Kids Back UA initiative expressed gratitude to Melania Trump for her concern. 'Deep gratitude to [the first lady] for caring so profoundly about the fate of Ukraine's children. Each word of support brings them closer to their families, communities and home,' it said. US lawmakers have demanded the return of Ukraine's children from Russia before any peace deal is agreed to and in July introduced a congressional resolution calling for their return. Led by Texas Republican congressman Michael McCaul and New York Democrat Gregory Meeks, the resolution condemns Russia's abduction, forcible transfer and facilitation of the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children. A US Senate version was introduced by Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley and Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat. Meeks said 'the Russian military has cruelly abducted and illegally deported tens of thousands of Ukrainian children from their homeland'. 'These atrocities are not isolated incidents,' Meeks said. 'They are the direct result of Putin's war of choice.'
